Random Thoughts

pophead2k · Post by **pophead2k** » Fri May 18, 2007 12:36 pm

I suddenly feel like buying a Lexus, and I'm not sure why.

RedShoes · Post by **RedShoes** » Fri May 18, 2007 12:41 pm

I'm thoroughly obsessed with The Office. Perhaps a bit too much so.

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Fri May 18, 2007 12:41 pm

Don't forget to get a fab cd player to go in that Lexus, pophead, and a bunch of El's reissues. . . .

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Wed May 23, 2007 9:25 am

This is my first visit on the board for a few weeks (work and holiday). What's been happening in 20 words or less.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Wed May 23, 2007 9:36 am

A lot of bitching and moaning about the Lexus ad, some gig reports/setlists from EC's recent US shows. Otis tearing his hair out over ManU losing the FA Cup. Not much else.

oily slick · Post by **oily slick** » Wed May 23, 2007 9:55 am

plus it's been revealed you ain't a hep cat anymore. dude.

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Wed May 23, 2007 4:21 pm

You never realize how fast you move your head around until you whack it into something.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Wed May 23, 2007 4:42 pm

Who Shot Sam? wrote:A lot of bitching and moaning about the Lexus ad, some gig reports/setlists from EC's recent US shows. Otis tearing his hair out over ManU losing the FA Cup. Not much else.

I came up (so to speak) with a brilliant new signature that disappointingly no-one has commented on.

WSS was smug and patronising, but could have been worse.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Wed May 23, 2007 4:49 pm

I saw the sig and love it Otis. One of the things I miss most about not working in Manhattan is that glorious moment in the spring when you go out for lunch and all of the heavy coats have come off.

I can work on being more smug if you'd like.

invisible Pole · Post by **invisible Pole** » Thu May 24, 2007 7:12 am

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news ... le-on-ebay

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Thu May 24, 2007 7:14 am

invisible Pole wrote:http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news ... le-on-ebay

Running for my wallet!

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Thu May 24, 2007 5:44 pm

Who Shot Sam? wrote:I saw the sig and love it Otis. One of the things I miss most about not working in Manhattan is that glorious moment in the spring when you go out for lunch and all of the heavy coats have come off.

There's no need to get all testosteroned up about it, I was just quoting Regina Spektor!

Your new avatar is turning my stomach!

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Thu May 24, 2007 7:36 pm

Otis Westinghouse wrote:Your new avatar is tiurning my stomach!

Chin up!

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Fri May 25, 2007 2:06 am

Please behead me!

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Fri May 25, 2007 6:05 am

Otis Westinghouse wrote:Please behead me!

Let me go
For I don't love you anymore...

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Tue May 29, 2007 11:58 am

wouldn't it be cool if it snowed in summer? I mean, not in the mountains, but on the beach. When it's 90 degrees. And sunny. Surfside snowball fights!

Mr. Average · Post by **Mr. Average** » Tue May 29, 2007 3:39 pm

Since the Mid-term elections in November (6 months ago) the Democratic party took control of Congress by gaining control of the House and the Senate. Much of the levergae came from the widespread unpopularity of the War on Terror (fought largely in Iraq). Promises were made to 'bring the troops home' and 'stop the spending' that subsidized the war effort.

Late last week the Senate and the House voted to continue funding the war and to establish no timeline for troop withdrawal. Diametrically opposite of the promise of the Democrats to make short order of "this travesty of a war".

Maybe it ain't so easy. Certainly is not as easy as it looks. In fact, the fear factor is so large that Baraq and Hillary would not reveal their votes until the very last second (neh), leveraging the long weekend to allow people to forget their vote. So if 72% of America is against the War effort, why are the Dem's so afraid to live true to their commitment to end it now by stifling funding and setting a timetable.

There's a thought worth spending a few random minutes on.

In the final episode of 24 (TV Series), the acting President (actually VP but President was incapacitated) said "It looks so easy when your not in the chair...the decisions seem so obvious...so simple. But once you sit in that chair, it is an entirely different story."

I think that line from a silly TV show probably holds more truth than anyone on this forum would want to give it.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Wed May 30, 2007 4:01 pm

There are no good answers in Iraq and no chance of victory, just varying degrees of failure. Whoever is elected president is going to face an almighty shitstorm of criticism whatever he/she does. It's an impossible situation. We lost nearly 100 soldiers this past month, years after declaring victory. It irks the hell out of me, but the fact that nearly everyone (the supposedly left-leaning news media especially) just takes it in stride makes my blood boil.

Thanks George.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Wed May 30, 2007 7:47 pm

I was going to waste breath on pointing out that "the war on terror" (as if it's a monolithic enemy) is not nearly the same thing as the current war in Iraq. However in the interest of perspective, and as a late observance of Memorial Day, I''ll instead recommend the two on-the-ground accounts you can to listen to here. Both these pieces aired earlier this spring; the combination is a moving tribute to people who have given their lives in this war.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Thu May 31, 2007 7:48 am

Yikes. Now my thoughts are shown to be not only random, but petty as well.

Well, somebody's got to be the fluff. Without fluff, why the whole world would be lint-free.

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:20 am

Without fluff, this site would suffocate on its own portentious cogitations...

Post by **BlueChair** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:13 am

Sorry if this post is long an of little interest, but I felt like sharing - so there.

Sam The Record Man, my favourite record store, is closing at the end of June.

The illegal downloaders have no doubt forced this upon them, and it makes me sad. Back in high school there was a point where I would go to Sam's almost every weekend and spend hours seeing what they have. People in Toronto recognize that this place is more than just a store, it's a landmark that has managed to retain its independent feel. Sam himself would often be there to help people find what they were looking for. It eventually expanded to a chain of stores across Canada (it's now only the one store), but the main downtown store has been there since 1961, and the business itself stretches back to 1937.

It's one of those places that seems to have everything, even the obscure genre-specific stuff most people have to special order. It also actually hires people who know their shit, unlike places like HMV or Best Buy who aren't helpful at all. I will miss it. A lot. And that feels silly, but what's amazing is how I'm not alone at all in feeling that way.

Here are a few sentiments shared in the local newspaper:

I've been going to Sam's for nearly 45 years. My most memorable experience was lining up to buy the Beatles' White Album on the first day it went on sale. A Sam's employee was just taking the albums out of box and writing the price on the cover with a magic marker. Probably half my CD collection comes from Sam's. I'll be sorry to see it go.
Thomas Linderoos, Toronto

Samâ€™s will be missed. No other retailer besides the web had such a wide selection of artists and back catalog. I miss the Montreal store very much and would go to the Yonge St. store every time I came to visit Toronto. A knowledgeable staff and wide selection are now going to be even more difficult to find.
Kevin McCoy, Montreal

The legacy that Sam the Record Man has built should be honoured by the City of Toronto. It should be named a Historical Landmark and perhaps it could become the home of the Canadian Record and Music Hall of Fame.
Patrick Rutledge, Toronto

I remember going to Sam's to find a record that I couldn't find anywhere unless I ordered it from Europe. I was lucky enough that Sam himself was in the store that day. I asked a clerk and he then asked Sam, and low and behold, Sam came through with a copy. I even got it at regular price rather than import all because Sam and I had something in common: love of music. You will be missed.
Laurence Habel, Vancouver

I still buy a lot of music from Sam's, since they are more knowledgeable and carry more esoteric stock in music then the Big Box/Wal-Mart stores will ever sell. In the article it says that CD sales are down. Could it be that a lot of great artists get little or no radio play so people can't hear them? So why would you buy a CD from an artist you haven't heard before?
Alan Whitley, Toronto

When I immigrated to Canada in the early 80s from Vietnam, I knew nothing about English music. My sister's boyfriend took me to Sam the Record Man. I was overwhelmed with the selections. I ended up making my first ever purchase of English music, a single LP of U2's "With or Without You" at Sam the Record Man. I still have it at home.
Jett Chow, Toronto

Mike Boom · Post by **Mike Boom** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:59 am

In the future we will not need any human inter-action at all.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Thu May 31, 2007 7:23 pm

BlueChair wrote:The illegal downloaders have no doubt forced this upon them, and it makes me sad.

I can't imagine downloaders have anything like the impact that Amazon and Best Buy do on the demise of independent record stores; after all, independent book stores are hardly thriving. Sorry for your loss, however. Someone mentioned to me yesterday that they thought Newbury Comics, Boston's fantastic independent mini-chain, was going under. I nearly had a heart attack... luckily it was a false alarm. Damn I love that place. Always filled with portentious people like myself.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:22 pm

Does that mean you're portentously pretentious?